Our thanks to Gov. Terry Branstad for requesting a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Buena Vista and other Iowa counties stricken by avian flu. Branstad seeks to unleash every federal resource to help producers, industry and communities recover from the worst livestock crisis in US history. An important part of the request is to offer enhanced long-term unemployment benefits to food production workers who could be jobless for up to two years. Branstad has made this epidemic his priority.

If the Iowa Legislature drags on to the end of May without funding K-12 public education, critics will be right to accuse Gov. Terry Branstad of a failure of leadership. The governor said Monday that the legislature might not be able to pass a budget before the legislature’s per-diem expense ends on May 1. It should be embarrassing to the long-time Republican chief executive that he has allowed political discourse to resemble that of Washington, DC.

Rep. Steve King toured Faith, Hope and Charity Monday, March 30. Here he takes a question from Storm Laker Larry Hecht. “This visit is an opportunity for FHC to put a face on issues for people with disabilities,” said Executive Director Cindy Wiemold, “and also hear King’s viewpoints on a range of issues including Medicaid funding, provider workforce issues and federal supports for living and working in the community.” TIMES photo by CLARE CULLEN

The Des Moines Waterworks has spent millions of dollars removing nitrates from drinking water drawn from the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers. Recent surges in nitrogen in the water have required the utility to repeatedly fire up the largest nitrate removal system in North America. The waterworks has warned for years that unless improvements were made upstream, the utility would sue northern counties in the Raccoon River Watershed.

President Obama’s executive action last week attempts to provide hard-working immigrant families with a bit of relief: that they will not be subject to deportation for three years. We suspect that life will be little-changed for most Latino families without proper documentation but otherwise living normal, even exemplary, lives in Storm Lake. To expect that they will submit their names and addresses to a database that will make deportation even easier in three years would stretch our imagination.

We published a series of stories over the past couple weeks examining how families arrange for child care in Buena Vista County. We found that there is a need, especially since Gingerbread House closed and was taken over as an early childhood education center by the Storm Lake School District. And, we found that the need is met better in smaller burgs than it is in Storm Lake.

We are happy that Dave Patton, R-Storm Lake, won re-election as Buena Vista County Attorney. We are gratified that voters embraced and honored the memory of the late BV County Treasurer Kathy Bach, a Storm Lake Democrat who died recently but whose name remained on the ballot as an unopposed candidate; a write-in campaign failed but now voters should be able to choose a treasurer in a special election. We were delighted that Jim Mowrer, D-Boone, at least won the Storm Lake vote in his uphill bid for Congress against Rep.